Extract from Thomas Jefferson’sNotes on the State of Virginia

But is the spirit of the people an infallible, a permanent reliance? Is it government?
Is this the kind of protection we receive in return for the rights we give up? Besides,
the spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our
people careless. A single zealot may commence persecutor, and better men be his victims.
It can never be too often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right
on a legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united. From the conclusion
of this war we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every
moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights
disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money,
and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles,
therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will remain
on us long, will be made heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire
in a convulsion.